Apparatus for applying liquid to textile fabrics and the like

ABSTRACT

The present apparatus is adapted to apply a desired percentage by weight of liquid to a running textile fabric and includes a station for applying an excess amount of liquid throughout the width of the fabric and a station for expressing and removing a predetermined amount of the liquid from the textile fabric to retain the desired percentage by weight of liquid in the textile fabric. First and second moving surfaces engage opposite sides of the textile fabric at the expressing station and at least one of the moving surfaces is covered by at least three distinct layers of textile material to absorb and remove the excess liquid from the fabric.

United States Patent [191 Mercer Oct. 7, 1975 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING LIQUID TO TEXTILE FABRICS AND THE LIKE [21] Appl. No.: 449,367

[52] U.S. Cl 118/117; 68/22 R; 68/99; 118/114; 118/122 [51] Int. Cl. B05C 11/02; BOSC 9/12; BOSC 3/12 3,779,207 12/1973 Bensen et al. 118/109 Primary Examiner-Mervin Stein Assistant ExaminerDouglas Salser Attorney, Agent, or FirmParrott, Bell, Seltzer, Park & Gibson [57] ABSTRACT The present apparatus is adapted to apply a desired percentage by weight of liquid to a running textile fabric and includes a station for applying an excess amount of liquid throughout the width of the fabric and a station for expressing and removing a predetermined amount of the liquid from the textile fabric to retain the desired percentage by weight of liquid in the textile fabric. First and second moving surfaces engage opposite sides of the textile fabric at the expressing station and at least one of the moving surfaces is covered by at least three distinct layers of textile material to absorb and remove the excess liquid from the fabric.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Oct. 7,1975

APPARATUS FOR APFLYING LIQUID TO TEXTILE FABRICS AND THE LIKE This invention relates generally to an apparatus for applying liquid to textile fabrics and the like and more particularly to an apparatus for applying a desired percentage by weight of liquid to a running textile fabric. The liquid applied to the running textile fabric may be any of the well known types usually applied to fabrics, such as dyes, thermosetting resins, starches and sizes, flame and fire proofing solutions, etc.

The conventional type of liquid applying apparatus includes a padding mangle through which the textile fabric passes to express or remove a certain amount of the liquid from the fabric. The padding mangle usually includes a steel roll and a rubber covered roll forming a nip through which the textile fabric passes to squeeze the excess liquid from the fabric. The amount of liquid extracted by this type of padding mangle is limited so that a greater than desired percentage of liquid remains in the running textile fabric. It is then necessary to excessively heat the fabric to evaporate the large amount of remaining liquid. This evaporation of the excess liquid also results in a waste of the liquid solution applied to the fabric in the first place and in many cases, the solution applied to the textile fabric is very costly.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for initially applying an excess amount of liquid to the fabric and thereafter expressing and removing a sufficient amount of liquid from the fabric so that the remaining liquid in the fabric may be economically removed by the heating and dyeing process.

According to the present invention, the apparatus includes means for expressing a predetermined amount of the liquid from the textile fabric to retain the desired percentage by weight of liquid in the textile fabric. The expressing means includes first and second moving surfaces, in the form of rolls or the like, with at least three distinct layers of textile material defining at least one of the moving surfaces. As the moving surfaces are pressed inwardly against the opposite sides of the textile fabric to form a nip through which the textile fabric passes, the distinct layers of textile material absorb and remove the excess liquid from the fabric so that the complete drying of the fabric can be carried out in an economical manner and without wasting the liquid solution.

In one embodiment of the invention, the moving surfaces include a metal roll and a corresponding rubber roll which is covered with at least three distinct layers of textile material. In another embodiment of the in vention, each of the moving surfaces comprises a rubber roll which is covered with at least three distinct layers of textile material. In a further embodiment of the invention, one or both of the moving surfaces include a pair of spaced apart rolls and a belt extending around the rolls with at least three distinct layers of textile material covering the belt.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic side elevational view of one form of the present apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing a second form of apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 but illustrating a third form of apparatus; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view through a portion of one of the rolls, illustrating the manner in which it is covered by distinct layers of textile material suitable to express and remove the excess liquid from the fabric.

As illustrated in the drawings, the apparatus of the present invention is adapted to apply a desired percentage by weight of liquid to a running textile fabric and generally includes means, broadly indicated at 10 in FIG. 1, for applying liquid throughout the width of the textile fabric F and in excess of the desired percentage by weight of liquid to be retained in the textile fabric. Means, broadly indicated at 11, is also provided for expressing a predetermined amount of the liquid from the textile fabric and to retain the proper percentage by weight of liquid in the textile fabric which may be economically removed during the heating and drying process. The liquid expressing means ll 1 includes first and second moving surfaces engaging opposite sides of the textile fabric and illustrated in FIG. 1 as comprising a lower steel roll 12 and an upper roll 13 including a rubber covering 14 and an outer cover of at least three distinct layers of textile material, indicated at L. Conventional means is provided for pressing the rolls 12, 13 together against opposite sides of the textile fabric to form a nip through which the textile fabric passes so that the distinct layers of textile material L of the roll 13 absorb and remove the excess liquid from the fabric.

The running textile fabric F moves from left to right in FIG. I and an excess of liquid is applied at the liquid applying station or means 10 as the fabric passes into the liquid and beneath an immersion roll 17. The fabric then passes through the nip between the upper and lower rolls 12, 13 and the distinct layers of textile material L on the upper roll absorb and remove the excess liquid from the fabric so that the desired percentage by weight of liquid is retained in the textile fabric. The excess liquid expressed and removed by the layers of textile material L on the roll 13 may be collected in any desired manner and returned to the liquid applying means 10 to again be applied to the fabric F. By retaining only the necessary amount of liquid in the fabric, the fabric may be completely dryed without wasting heat energy and without requiring the evaporation of excess liquid, which would also result in a waste of the liquid solution initially applied to the fabric.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the liquid applying means, broadly indicated at 20, includes an immersion roll 27. The first and second moving surfaces engaging opposite sides of the textile material include a lower roll 22 and an upper roll 23. Each of these rolls include respective rubber coverings 22a and 23a which are covered with at least three distinct layers of textile material L.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the means for applying liquid throughout the width of the textile fabric, broadly indicated at 30, includes a roll 37 which runs in the liquid solution and the fabric F passes over and is maintained in engagement with this roll 37 by a pair of rolls 38, 39 so that the liquid solution is applied to the fabric. The means, broadly indicated at 31, for expressing a predetermined amount of the liquid from the textile fabric to retain the desired percentage by weight of liquid in the fabric includes first and second moving surfaces engaging opposite sides of the textile fabric in the form of pairs of spaced apart rolls 32a, 32b

and 33a, 33b with belts 34, 35 extending around the respective pairs of rolls. At least three distinctive layers of textile material L cover the respective belts 34, 35 and are utilized to absorb and remove the excess liquid from the fabric.

The fragmentary portion of the roll shown in crosssection in FIG. 4 illustrates six layers of textile material L covering the same. It has been found that the amount of liquid which is expressed and removed from the fabric by the layers of material covering the roll does not increase in a linear relationship as the number of layers of covering material is increased. For example, in the embodiment of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 and with only one layer of covering material on the upper roll 13, a certain percentage of liquid is retained in the fabric. Under the same conditions, and with two layers of textile material on the upper roll, the percentage of liquid removed remains exactly the same. However, when a third layer of textile material is added to the upper roll, a ten percent increase is obtained in the amount of liquid removed. Thus, the percentage of liquid removed is not directly proportional and does not directly increase in a linear manner to the number of layers of covering material applied to the upper roll. One would normally expect the percentage of liquid removed to increase with the addition of each layer of textile material and it is surprising that this does not occur.

It has been found that it is necessary to apply at least three layers of covering material to at least one of the moving surfaces to remove the desired amount of liquid from the fabric and as many as six layers of covering material may be applied to the moving surfaces, if desired. The amount of liquid removed is dependant upon several variables, such as the amount of pressure applied between the moving surfaces, the type of textile material applied to the moving surfaces, the type of textile material being processed, and the type of liquid being applied to the textile material. However, where all these conditions are the same, except the number of layers of textile material on the roll, different amounts of liquid have been removed from the fabric, as set forth below.

In this experiment, the fabric was 50/50 cottonpolyester blend and water at 90F. was used at the liquid applying station to wet out the fabric. Forty pounds per square inch of air pressure was utilized to squeeze the rolls l2 and 13 together. The percentage of wet pick-up is calculated by substracting the dry weight of a fabric sample from the wet weight of the same sample and then dividing this result by the dry weight to obtain the percentage of wet pick-up. With the upper roll 13 being rubber covered and a lower steel roll 12, the wet pick-up was 97 percent with the dry weight of the fabric being 11 grams and the wet weight of the fabric being 21.7 grams. Under the same conditions but using a single layer of covering material on the upper roll 13, the wet pick-up was 84 percent with the dry weight again being 1 1 grams and the wet weight being 20.2 grams. With two layers of the same covering material on the upper roll 13, the percentage of pick-up was again 84 percent with the dry weight again being 11 grams and the wet weight being 20.2 grams. With three layers of the same covering material on the upper roll, the wet pick-up was reduced to 74 percent with the dry weight again being 1 1 grams and the wet weight being 19.1 grams. Thus, the wet pick-up percentage remained the same using one and two layers of covering material on the upper roll while the wet pick-up was reduced by 10 percent by adding a third layer of the same type covering material on the upper roll. Various types of textile material may be used to cover one or both of the moving surfaces engaging the fabric and the best results are usually obtained when the covering of textile material is of the same type as the textile material being treated.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for applying a desired percentage by weight of liquid to a running textile fabric comprising a. means for applying liquid throughout the width of the textile fabric and in excess of the desired percentage by weight of liquid to be retained in the textile fabric, and

b. means for expressing a predetermined amount of the liquid from the textile fabric to retain the desired percentage by weight of liquid in the textile fabric, said expressing means including,

1. a first moving surface engaging one side of the textile fabric,

2. a second moving surface engaging the other side of the textile fabric and being positioned opposite said first moving surface,

3. at least three distinct layers of textile material defining at least one of said moving surfaces, and

4. means for pressing said moving surfaces together and against opposite sides of the textile fabric to form a nip through which the textile fabric passes so that said distinct layers of textile material absorb and remove the excess liquid from the fabric.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said distinct layers of textile material are of the same textile material as the running textile fabric.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least three distinct layers of textile material define both of said first and second moving surfaces.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said moving surfaces comprises a roll covered by said at least three distinct layers of textile material.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the other of said moving surfaces comprises a metal roll.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the other of said moving surfaces also comprises a roll covered by said at least three distinct layers of textile material.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said moving surfaces comprises a pair of spaced apart rolls, and a belt extending around said rolls, said belt being covered by said at least three distinct layers of textile material.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the other of said moving surfaces also comprises a pair of spaced apart rolls, and a belt extending around said rolls, said belt being covered by said at least three distinct layers of textile material. 

1. Apparatus for applying a desired percentage by weight of liquid to a running textile fabric comprising a. means for applying liquid throughout the width of the textile fabric and in excess of the desired percentage by weight of liquid to be retained in the textile fabric, and b. means for expressing a predetermined amount of the liquid from the textile fabric to retain the desired percentage by weight of liquid in the textile fabric, said expressing means including,
 1. a first moving surface engaging one side of the textile fabric,
 2. a second moving surface engaging the other side of the textile fabric and being positioned opposite said first moving surface,
 3. at least three distinct layers of textile material defining at least one of said moving surfaces, and
 4. means for pressing said moving surfaces together and against opposite sides of the textile fabric to form a nip through which the textile fabric passes so that said distinct layers of textile material absorb and remove the excess liquid from the fabric.
 2. a second moving surface engaging the other side of the textile fabric and being positioned opposite said first moving surface,
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said distinct layers of textile material are of the same textile material as the running textile fabric.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least three distinct layers of textile material define both of said first and second moving surfaces.
 3. at least three distinct layers of textile material defining at least one of said moving surfaces, and
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said moving surfaces comprises a roll covered by said at least three distinct layers of textile material.
 4. means for pressing said moving surfaces together and against opposite sides of the textile fabric to form a nip through which the textile fabric passes so that said distinct layers of textile material absorb and remove the excess liquid from the fabric.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the other of said moving surfaces comprises a metal roll.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the other of said moving surfaces also comprises a roll covered by said at least three distinct layers of textile material.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said moving surfaces comprises a pair of spaced apart rolls, and a belt extending around said rolls, said belt being covered by said at least three distinct layers of textile material.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the other of said moving surfaces also comprises a pair of spaced apart rolls, and a belt extending around said rolls, said belt being covered by said at least three distinct layers of textile material. 